Maine Man Busted For Embezzling $1.5 Million Worth Of Lobsters

Who knew there was a black market for lobsters? Well evidently there is because a guy from from Scarborough, Maine was just busted for embezzling over a million bucks worth of the tasty crustaceans.

According to the Portland Press Herald, Matthew Bellerose owned 20% of the Sea Salt restaurant and wholesaler on Route 1 in Saco. The newspaper says he set up a fake client and pretended he was shipping the lobsters to them, but in fact, he was keeping the lobsters to sell on his own, then pocketing the cash.

Sea Salt Lobster restaurant Facebook page

His Sea Salt business partners finally got suspicious and brought in a forensic accountant to examine sales and shipping records. The Press Herald article claims "a lawsuit, filed in York County Superior Court, alleges that $1,496,427 was embezzled from Sea Salt, but a footnote says the full amount of the loss is still being investigated and “is likely in excess of $2 million.”